Medical Stands have evolved from IV stands which were originally designed to support containers of IV fluids into general purpose equipment stands. The original designs typically had a first central pole on a wheeled base rising to approximately 3 feet above the base and then a smaller diameter pole journaled in and rising from the first pole, to support an IV tree from which one or more IV containers could be hung. The wheeled base would support castering wheels at the end of three or more base legs that radiate from a central core. More recently these stands have been pressed into service to support medical equipment including IV pumps, ventilators and the like. Much of this medical equipment has grown in size as other functions are incorporated. The current designs of stands may be too spindly and top heavy to provide confidence that the medical equipment will be protected from damage from tip over and the patient protected from injury when using the stand as an ambulatory aid. As a stop-gap measure additional legs can be added to the three minimum legs. As a result stands may provide four or five or even six legs for greater stability. Handles have been added to make it easier for medical personnel to move the stands into position, and for ambulatory patients to push the stands in front of them when they walk while remaining connected to the attached medial equipment. However, the large number of legs represents a trip hazard for both the medical personnel and patients especially as the user approaches the stand to move it.
The various requirements of different devices and uses has lead to the design of custom stands that share few or no common parts and therefore are more expensive to manufacture.